Demiwatt's Cryptid Creature Dossier

The White Thing or Sheepsquatch, as he is more affectionately known, is purported to be a massive creature with thick white, wool-like fur. When standing on its rear legs, Sheepsquatch is said to tower upwards of six feet tall. He has been reported to have the hands of a raccoon, the horns of a goat, and a bizarre hairless opossum-like tail. By all accounts the creature is ferocious and will attack without warning. Reputed to smell strongly of sulfur, this beasts hellish demeanor is only matched by its otherworldly smell.

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A large surge in sightings took place in Boone County during the mid-1990s. In 1994, a former Navy seaman witnessed the beast break through the forest.

The beast that emerged was about the size of a bear, with completely white wool-like fur. It was on all fours as it breached the brush line and knelt to drink from the creek. Its front limbs ended in paw-like hands, sort of like a raccoon’s only larger. Its head was long and pointed, like a dogs. It had long saber-like teeth, and it had single-pint horns like a young goat. Its tail was long and hairless, like an opossum’s. The white thing drank for a few minutes, then crossed the creek and continued on across toward the road. The navy seaman observed the animal for a while, and then it moved on into the surrounding brush.

Also in that same year, two children observed the beast while playing in the yard in Boone County. They saw what looked like a large white bear, and it stood up on its hind legs, which made it over six feet tall. Startled, the beast ran away through the forest, breaking medium-sized limbs off of trees as it went.

Another encounter a year later involved a car. A couple driving through Boone County noticed a large white beast sitting in the ditch along the road. They stopped their car to get a good look at it. It was described again as a large white animal with woolly fur about the size of a bear. In this instance, it was described as having “four eyes”. Then, it jumped out of the ditch and starts attacking the car. The couple drove off quickly, and when they got home noticed the large scratches on the side where the beast attacked.

Another incident occurred in 1999, this time a couple of campers were in the forest of Boone County at night around a campfire. They heard an animal snorting and scuffling around the camp, but it did not come into the light of the campfire. All of the sudden, the Sheepsquatch appeared out of the darkness and charged at the campers. They jumped up and ran back to their house; all the while being pursued by the Sheepsquatch. It stopped at the edge of the forest, however, and let out a terrible scream. Then it just turned around and headed back into the woods. The next morning, the campers examined their campsite and the trail home. It was torn up, they said, “like someone had tilled it up for gardening”.

In this and all instances of the Sheepsquatch, the beast smelled like sulfur. This is believed to be a result of the beast’s birth in the TNT area in Mason County. It makes sense that anything living in this area should absorb some measure of that scent if it was born in and frequents that area. The Sheepsquatch or the “white thing” is still being seen in parts of Boone County. Be careful where you camp – the Sheepsquatch may be near.

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I grew up in Gallipolis, across the Ohio River from Point Pleasant. In high school I found an old scrape book of my mother's with several dozen clippings on the Mothman: I was fascinated that something "neat" had happened so close to the sleepy little town I loved, and I was hooked. I had to know more! It didn't take long for me to find "The Mothman Prophecies" and read it cover to cover.

I lost interest somewhat when I began to date and do the things high school kids do. However, when I returned from a seven year tour in the United States Navy I rediscovered my interest in the Mothman. I decided that I would use the skills the Navy had taught me to try and disprove the Mothman stories. My logic being that if I tried, seriously and diligently, to disprove the stories, and failed, then I would have strengthened their credibility.

My new hobby took me into the woods and "hollers" around the TNT area and to the homes of what witnesses who were alive and willing to talk about what they'd seen. While I found a great many points of interest in my investigation –among them some interesting questions focusing on an Active Naval base in Point Pleasant which seems to have no official purpose or staff. I was not prepared for what I encountered along a creek bank north of Bethel Church Road.

I was walking the creek bank trying to run down some tips provided to me by an acquaintance at a UFO investigation group who I considered a marginal flake, but which seemed to have some credibility in the form of "what are these guys really up to" venue.

As I walked the creek I heard something large break through the brush ahead of me and I froze. Logic told me that it was at worse a large dog or even a stray cow, as there is very little in the way of predators in Mason county. Still, I've been a hunter since my teenage years and I knew well that the WV DNR had been actively repopulating absent native species: it was wholly possible that I was about to become face to face with something which might consider me lunch.

What I saw emerge from the brush was a large, brownish-white creature: it's fur looked dirty and matted as if the animal did very little in the line of self grooming. I can't be sure if I was looking at a dirty white animal or a brownish animal with a white undercoat. It was late in the fall so it make sense that it might be putting on a winter coat. The creature moved on all fours as it breached the brush line and knelt to drink from the creek. It's front limbs, the only limbs I saw clearly, ended in what were markedly paw like "hands". It's head was long and pointed, like a canines, and it had largish horns: not antlers but single point horns.

I shrunk back into the brush and watched, afraid to stay and afraid to run. It drank for a few minutes, then cross the creek and continued on across toward Sandhill Road. When I was sure it was gone, I turned and ran as fast as I could back toward the pond where I'd parked.

The one thing that sticks out in my mind about this encounter most clearly is the way it smelled. It smelled like sulfur. Now, don't think I'm screaming fire and brimstone here, I'm not. One of the biggest problems with the TNT area is the pollution from the manufacturing activities that went on there. The worst of this is the Red Water run off generated by the production of gun powder. The area was a navy ammunition plant at one time and made gunpowder. Red Water, the cause to this date of the brownish-red foam seen in many of the run off ponds, has a sulfur content that should concern anyone exposed to it. It makes sense that anything living in this area should absorb some measure of that scent if they are drinking from these water sources.